
We’re less than a month away from the launch of the Xbox One, so it’s no surprise that we’re starting to see a lot more information slip out. We’ve already seen a complete unboxing of the day one edition, but now some sweet details from the Xbox One’s manual have made their way to the internet at large. Based on this new information, the new Kinect seems like a much better fit for small living rooms.
One of the Xbox One’s launch countries is Brazil, so it’s not an enormous shock to see that the leaked manual is written in Portuguese. In this sleek PDF, we get a step-by-step walkthrough of setting up the Xbox One, and it’s fairly standard material. The HDMI goes to the TV, the ethernet goes to the router, and the batteries go in the gamepad — duh. However, there is some interesting information regarding the set-up for the Kinect.
Specifically, this manual outlines the height at which the Kinect needs to be mounted, and how far away players need to stand for the camera to work properly. At the low-end, the Kinect needs to be at least 0.6 meters (roughly two feet) from the ground. On the high-end, it shouldn’t exceed 1.8 meters (roughly six feet). While the first-gen Kinect required the player to stand at least 1.8 meters away, the new Kinect will work for players standing as close as 1.4 meters (roughly 4.6 feet) away. For those of us stuck in tiny apartments, this is a very important improvement.
While we still don’t know how this compares directly with the PlayStation 4 canera, it’s something of a moot point. Since the PS4 ships without the camera accessory, it’s highly unlikely that it will play a major role in games going forward. Since the Kinect has all of the brand recognition, and it’s bundled with the Xbox One, there is very little Sony can actually do to compete. Even if the PS4 Eye turns out to be superior, it’ll never have the same level of developer support that the Kinect does.
While it’s certainly an understandable cost-cutting measure for Sony, it’s still disappointing that motion controls will continue to be half-heartedly implemented in the next generation. In the end, the PS4 Eye is little more than a “me too” accessory.
Now read: Xbox One Kinect can understand two people speaking at once, PS4 counters with camera bundle
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